Silver Blade II: Across A TearStreaked Sky
by Emerald Tiara
Summary: Lila follows Luke to Dagobah, but the Imperial Stardestroyer waiting for her makes sure she doesn't get there...Can Lila survive an encounter with Darth Vader? Sequel to Three Lives Connect.
1. Have You Seen This Jedi?

**Greetings! I welcome you all to the second installment in the Silver Blade Trilogy! I would like to thank the readers that followed me to my second Star Wars story, thank you so much!**

**Silver Blade II: Across A Tear-Streaked Sky**

**Lila follows Luke to Dagobah, but the Imperial Stardestroyer waiting in space makes sure she doesn't get there.**

_Chapter 1: Have You Seen This Jedi?_

The wind howled across the frozen tundra of the icy planet Hoth. Lunalila Kenobi Skywalker reined in her tauntaun to a halt and surveyed the frozen landscape.

"Echo Three to Echoes Seven and Nine," buzzed a voice from the comlink on her wrist. "Han, Lila, do you read me?" It was Luke Skywalker.

"What else would I be reading?" asked Lila.

"Loud and clear, kid. What's up?" asked Han Solo.

"I just finished my circle. I don't see any life readings."

"There isn't enough life on this ice cube to fill a space cruiser," retorted Han. "The sensors are placed, I'm heading back."

"Right, I'll see you shortly. There's a meteor that hit near here, I'm going to check it out. It shouldn't take long."

"Okay, Luke. See you at base." Lila put her goggles back on and shivered. After growing up on the desert planet of Tatooine for eighteen years, this was freezing.

"Alright, girl. Back to base," she muttered to her tauntaun. The animal turned around and galloped back to the ice structure that was the Rebel Base.

The snow lizard entered the hangar deck and slowly trotted to a halt. Lila slipped off its back and removed her helmet. On the far side of the hangar she could see the large structure of the _Millennium Falcon_, Han's prized ship that resembled a junk heap. Someone lead her tauntaun away.

Approaching the smuggler ship, she saw Chewbacca the Wookie making yet another repair job to the ship, which never seemed to perform its full functions. "Hey Chewie," said Lila, "What's wrong with it this time?" She remembered too late that she couldn't understand Wookie. The furry animal barked. Lucky for Lila, the most annoying robot in the galaxy was approaching. This was only lucky because the robot in question happened to be fluent in six million forms of communication.

"He says the central lifter is dysfunctional," stated C-3PO.

"Okay. Uh . . . thank you. Now go away." The golden robot left. "Good luck with that, Chewie." He growled.

She walked quickly to the command center, breathing into her hands to warm them. Lila sat down next to a dark-haired woman. "What have we got?"

"No Imperial probes yet," said Princess Leia Organa, "but all this meteor activity is going to make it hard to find them when they do come."

"Which they will eventually."

"That, Lila, is something I am sure of," said Leia tensely.

"Well, all we can do is hope for the best. Trust in the Force."

"Lila," began Leia, "you do realize that you, Luke, and I are pretty much the only ones who believe in the Force, right?"

"Your point, Leia?"

"My point, friend, is that if you go around saying stuff like that people will remember the Jedi massacre and say, look where the Force got them. So saying that isn't very encouraging to most of us."

"Yes, but I can say it around you, because you just said that you believe in the Force."

All further conversation was brought to a grinding halt as Han walked over. "Well, your Highness, I guess this is it."

"That's right," replied Leia coldly.

Seeing that no further comment was forthcoming, Han quickly strode off after saying, "Well, don't get too mushy on me or anything!"

"Would you take that sitting down?" Leia asked.

Lila snorted. "No. Are you going to?"

"No." Leia rushed off after Han. Lila shook her head and went in search of her room to meditate.

Twenty minutes later, she sensed Leia was suddenly feeling extremely worried. She swore and got up, promising to punch Han if he'd done anything.

"Hey. What's wrong?"

"Where's Luke?" demanded Leia.

"He went to check out a meteor. Why, isn't he back yet? He said it wouldn't take long."

"No, he is not back yet!" cried Leia. "He hasn't been back since this morning!"

Lila swore again and ran to the hangar. Han was already there, mounting a tauntaun. Lila quickly suited up and grabbed one of the snow lizards for herself.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" asked Han suspiciously.

"Coming with you. Did you seriously expect me to let you go alone? Anyway, I don't want to spend all night comforting Leia."

Han shrugged. An officer approached them. "Sir, the temperature is dropping too rapidly," he said to Han. Then he turned to Lila. "Ma'am, are you sure you want to go out there?"

"Pretty damn!"

"Your tauntauns will freeze before you reach the first marker!"

"Then I'll see you in hell!" retorted Han. He and Lila's tauntauns carried them out into the freezing blizzard.

Lila, though she didn't show it, was worried. See, Luke was her brother. She, Leia and Luke were triplets. And she was the only person who currently knew that. She couldn't let Luke die.

**So there's chapter one for you. Enjoy?**

**Review! Please!**


	2. Go Shove It Up Your Tauntaun

**Holá!**

**I might have less time to update this thing, because now school started and I actually have stuff to do—oh, the horror!**

_Chapter 2: Go Shove It Up Your Tauntaun_

**2 hours later**

"Well where do YOU think he is?" yelled Han over the storm.

He and Lila were embroiled in an argument over Luke's whereabouts.

"Not here! He wouldn't go onto a frozen lake!" retorted Lila. "He's somewhere over that way!"

"How do you know?"

"I just do!" Lila spurred on her tauntaun, knowing Han would follow. Riding for ten minutes, shivering all the way, telling the Force to go fuck itself (it had been constantly reminding her that Jedi were supposed to ignore pain), she pulled her tauntaun to a halt. A small dark form about ten feet away was laying facedown in the snow.

"Kid!" Han quickly got off his lizard and went to the partially-unconscious Rebel Commander in the snow. Lila followed.

"Come on, give me a sign!" she muttered. "If you die Leia is going to _kill_ me!"

"Ben . . . Yoda . . . Dagobah . . ."

Then, a second later, she spoke again: "Shit," said Lila and Han at the same time as their tauntauns collapsed.

"Okay," said Han, "Lila, you are gonna have to cut open that animal."

"Um, ew. Why?"

"Because the kid's gonna die if we don't get him warm!" snapped the ex-smuggler. Lila didn't move. Han sighed and used Luke's lightsaber to cut open the animals. He then did exactly what he said he would, and shoved Luke headfirst into the tauntaun guts.

"You. Have. _Got_. To. Be. Kidding. Me."

"Nope. We gotta keep him warm until I get the shelter up."

Lila shook her head in disgust and helped Han raise the small tent in his pack, then raised her tent.

"And I thought these beasts stunk on the outside!" she huffed as she and Han rolled Luke into the tent.

"What, mature, responsible Lila can't handle a bit of bad air?" teased Han. Lila slapped him across the face and stormed off into her tent.

No matter how many times she told herself she needed to rest, she couldn't sleep. It wasn't just the cold, though that was a big factor. It was what Luke had mumbled when they first found him. If Ben's ghost had indeed appeared and talked to him, and instructed him to go to Dagobah, then she was in trouble.

Yoda didn't like her.

He thought she was too headstrong, willful, and rebellious. But there was no question of her not going with Luke; she was in dire need of completed training. And before Ben had died, he'd told her that Luke needed to be trained in the Force. If he died out here, she was so screwed it wasn't even funny.

Finally she shoved her thoughts to the back of her mind and went to sleep.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

Lila awoke to bright sunlight. Heaving herself out of her tent, she shielded her eyes against the blazing white landscape that awaited her.

"Good morning, lazy-head." Lila scowled at Han.

"Any contact from Base?"

"Not yet, but they better come soon. Luke's got frostbite in his fingers and toes."

"Tauntaun treatment didn't work?" she asked sarcastically.

Han glared at her.

Lila relented. This was not the time for smart comments. Luke was in danger, her Padawan-hood was in danger, and if someone didn't find them soon . . . . Han fiddled with a few controls on his transmitter. The antenna was out all the way, and he was sweeping it in random directions, but nobody was answering.

"Wait," said Lila. She reached out with the Force, concentrating as though her life depended on it. Which, technically, it did.

First nothing, then . . . wait! There was something flickering on the edge of her senses, just barely there . . . she reached out with all her strength.

"They're coming," she said. "They're coming to find us."

"How do you know?"

Lila sighed and threw a snowball at Han. After five years, he still didn't believe in the force. Then static came over the radio transmitter, then a voice.

"This is Rogue Two. This is Rogue Two. Captain Solo, do you copy? Commander Skywalker, do you copy? Commander Kenobi, do you copy?"

"Good morning," said Han. "Nice of you guys to drop by."

"Echo Base, this is Rogue Two. I've found them. I repeat, I've found them."

**SwimAngel: thanks!**

**So there's chapter 2, have fun reviewing!**


	3. You Can't Fall In Love With Her

**Well, school sucks. When in my life is the Associative Property going to be of ANY use?**

**I mean, seriously.**

**Disclaimer: nope.**

_Chapter 3: You Can't Fall In Love With Her_

Lila sat in the waiting room. She drummed her fingers on the hard chair she was given and awaited the verdict.

Luke, meanwhile, floated in a bacta tank.

Han was also bored. Chewie was . . . well, Lila couldn't read the expressions on Wookie faces, so she didn't know what he was thinking. Leia was worried. The princess leaned over and whispered in Lila's ear.

"Did you seriously slap him?"

"Hmm? What?" Lila was jolted out of her thoughts. "Oh, that . . . yeah, he was being an insensitive idiot—"

"This comes as a surprise?"

"—and so I slapped him." She and Lila exchanged high fives.

A medical droid poked its head around the door. "Commander Skywalker is awake now; you may see him."

"Finally!"

They entered. Luke was lying in a bed. The medical droid said "You can't stay for too long—" but was cut off by Lila giving it the finger.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," she said.

"Hey kid, great to see you," said Han. "You don't look so bad to me."

"Thanks to you."

"Which is exactly his point," said Lila loudly, "so if Han could stop bragging for ONE FRIGGIN MINUTE I'm sure we would all be very grateful."

"Spoilsport," muttered Han. He turned to Leia. "Well, your Worshipfulness, looks like you managed to keep me around for a while longer."

"I had nothing to do with it. General Rieekan thinks its dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we put up the energy shield."

Lila, again, interrupted loudly. "But seriously. A Wampa? How in the name of the Force did you let yourself get attacked by a Wampa?"

"Hey, I didn't know it was there!" Luke protested.

"Be mindful of the Force, my young apprentice."

Luke stared at her. "Since when—"

"It's a classic line. I had to say it. Anyway—" Lila was beaten at her own game as Leia and Han's arguing reached a new level of volume.

"I think you couldn't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight."

Leia blinked. Lila barely contained a grin.

I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain," retorted Leia. Chewie barked. Han looked insulted.

"Laugh it up, fuzz ball. But you didn't see us alone in the south passage."

"The question is not did he, but did he want to."

Han glared at Lila very threateningly. She raised her eyebrows. "Go ahead. Make my day."

Leia made a very frustrated noise. Han returned to his argument.

"She expressed her true feelings for me."

"My true . . . ! Why you stuck up . . . half-witted . . . scruffy-looking nerf-herder!" And without further ado, Leia grabbed Luke's head and kissed him on the lips. When she released him, she stormed out of the room.

Luke grinned smugly. Lila and Han glared at him. Lila had one thought running through her head:

_Don't fall in love with your sister don't fall in love with your sister PLEASE don't fall in love with your sister . . . too late. You fell in love with your sister._

_Crap. Yoda's gonna kill me._

"Well, Han, she got you there."

"Shut up."

Before anymore insults could be exchanged, an urgent voice came out over the loudspeaker. "Headquarters personnel, report to command center."

"Couldn't leave us alone for five minutes?" asked Lila grumpily as she heaved herself out of the med center.

"Take it easy, kid," Han advised Luke.

In the command center, they found General Rieekan hunched over a computer console. "We have a visitor. We picked up something moving east outside the base, in zone twelve."

"It's metal," called a senior controller.

"Then it's definitely not a Wampa," muttered Lila.

"It could be a speeder, one of ours," offered Han.

"No," said the controller. "Wait—there's something very weak coming through."

Everyone listened intently to the faint, strange signal. Threepio came over. "Sir, I am fluent in over six million forms of communication. This signal is not used by the Alliance. It could be an Imperial code."

"Crap," said Leia under her breath.

"It ain't friendly, whatever it is. C'mon Chewie, let's check it out." Han went to go find a speeder.

Thirty minutes later, Han's voice, preceded by a large explosion, came rattling over the comlink. "Afraid there's not much left."

"What was it?" asked Leia.

"Droid of some kind. I didn't hit it that hard; it must have a self-destruct."

"An Imperial probe droid," breathed Lila. "They found us."

"We better start the evacuation," said Rieekan.

_Okay,_ thought Lila. She remembered a dream she'd had five years ago: Lila turns to Dark Side. Lila kills everybody. Lila rules galaxy. _I guess I'm out of danger. My dream included Hoth in it, so I obviously didn't do what I was supposed to._

She thought she was safe. She thought wrong.

**jedi-josh: yeah, the Force is not very happy with her right now . . . **

**SwimAngel: thanks!**

**Hello! Where ARE you people! I know a lot of people read Three Lives Connect, are you out there somewhere?**

**Happy birthday to me! I turned 13 today!**


	4. Darth Eris

**Disclaimer: come on. Be serious.**

_Chapter 4: Darth Eris_

Nobody could tell what Darth Vader was thinking. Ever. His mask kept his emotions hidden until he spoke.

This meant that nobody knew he was annoyed.

But Darth Vader was annoyed. Big-time annoyed.

So was the emperor.

And so was Darth Eris. (a/n: Ha! Ha! Ha! Got you there, didn't I? You thought Darth Eris was Lila's Dark Side alter ego! Ha!)

Who is Darth Eris, do you ask?

She was Darth Vader's apprentice. She was being trained in the arts of the Dark Side. Nobody who didn't need to knew what she looked like; she kept her hood up in case anyone was taken prisoner by the alliance. They weren't supposed to know she existed.

Today, however, she took her hood off, revealing long blonde hair. Hair that perfectly matched her eyes.

Today she was pissé. She stood with her master listening to a report from General Veers. "My lord—" Eris coughed "—and My Lady, the fleet has moved out of light-speed. We detected an energy field protecting the sixth planet of the Hoth system. The field is strong enough to deflect any bombardment."

"The Rebels have been alerted to our presence," said Lady Eris angrily.

"Admiral Ozzel came out of light-speed too close to the system." Vader also sounded angry.

" . . . He felt surprise was wiser . . ."

"He is as clumsy as he is stupid," said Vader. "General, prepare your troops for a ground attack. Lady Eris, I have a special mission for you. I want you to go with the troops. When they take control of the rebel base, I wan you to find the girl Lila Skywalker. She will probably be going under the name of Lila Kenobi. Find her, and bring her to me."

"Yes, my Master."

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

Once again, Lila was preparing to go with the fighters. She stood in the command center as Leia announced the attack plan.

"All troop carriers will assemble at the north entrance. The heavy transport ships will leave as soon as they're loaded. Only two fighter escorts per ship. The energy shield can only be opened for a short time, so you'll have to stay very close to your transports."

"Two fighters against a Stardestroyer?" asked a man named Hobbie.

"The ion cannon will fire several shots to make sure that any enemy ships will be out of your flight path. When you've gotten past the energy shield, proceed directly to the rendezvous point. Understood?"

"You'd have to be pretty thick not to understand it," muttered Lila. Luke grinned.

The pilots filed out. On her way to the hangar, Lila was stopped by a young man with unkempt brown hair. "Hi, I'm Zed, and I'll be your gunman for today."

"Nice to meet you. Come on!"

Cheers rang through the base as a voice came over the loudspeaker: "The fist transport is away. Repeat, the first transport is away!"

"So." Lila strapped herself into the pilot's seat of her snowspeeder. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, ma'am!" said Zed emphatically.

"Good, because the Empire is no joke." Lila carefully started the engines and lifted the speeder off the ground.

"Oh Force . . ." Lila stared as they came in sight of the Imperial Walkers. Luke's voice sounded through her headset. "Attack pattern delta. Go!"

Firing at the walkers, Zed yelled to Luke, "They're too heavily armored! We can't penetrate the shields!"

"Who needs to penetrate?" retorted Lila. "Launch the cable on my mark. Ready . . ." the speeder sped towards the walker. "Fire!"

A harpoon cable attached itself to the leg of the walker. Lila swerved around the other legs as the cable followed. "Detach!"

With a loud boom, the walker exploded as it's legs tangled in the cable, causing it to trip. "Nice shot, Zed!"

The nearest walker, however, aimed and fired. Lila's speeder spiraled to the ground as she tried to land it. "Shit!"

"What's wrong?" asked Luke.

"I've lost Zed . . ."

"Aw, crap!" Luke's gunman, Dack, had met the same fate.

"Well then," said Lila brightly as she and Luke climbed out of their fighters to attack the walkers on foot, "we're going to die."

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

"Aim for their fighters," snapped Darth Eris.

"Yes, my Lady."

Eris grinned as she prepared to go with the ground troops. The capture of Lila Skywalker would improve the Emperor's view of her, which had declined since her failure at the Battle of Yavin.

The fight was short. Fifteen minutes later, Lady Eris Lead the troop into the chaotic Rebel base.

_Now, where is that girl . . . _

She darted down the sparsely populated hallways. What few people she did pass she killed before they could report her presence to the Alliance. Quickly deciding she needed more information, she tore off her cloak and let her hair fall down around her shoulders. She stopped a passing officer.

"Excuse me, do you know where I could find Commander Kenobi?"

"She left with the pilots," the man panted. "Say, I haven't seen you before—"

She killed him.

_I have failed._

Eris found Darth Vader at the entrance to one of the hangar bays, watching the Millennium Falcon escape yet again. "Master, I have failed." She knelt at his feet.

"How have you failed?"

"Lila Skywalker went with the fighters. I should have predicted this."

"It is not your fault. Come, we must make preparations for her capture."

"You had a backup plan? You did not believe I would succeed?"

"No; I merely took precautions."

Seething, Darth Eris followed Vader to his ship that would take them both back to the Stardestroyer.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

"Are you insane?" screeched Lila.

"No," snapped Luke. "I'm resourceful."

"Resourceful my ass, you don't just go and climb a walker, insert a _hand grenade_, of all things, and wait for it to blow up! You could have been killed!" Trying to look up at Luke, she banged her head on her speeder. "At least you're still alive!"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Are you almost done?"

Lila was kneeling in the snow, trying to repair her damaged speeder. "Yep. Just have to reconnect this, and we are . . . done!" she proclaimed triumphantly as the speeder hummed back to life.

"Good. We need to go, now."

Luke and Lila climbed into their respective speeders and lifted off. Flying out of the Hoth atmosphere, they parted ways. Luke to Dagobah to confer with Yoda, and Lila to the rendezvous point.

Om second thought . . .

Lila needed to see Yoda. True, he would probably yell at her, but they needed to talk. She had no clue where Dagobah was, so she would have to follow Luke. But he was already mad enough at her . . . oh well, she just wouldn't tell him until they got there.

Laughing to herself, she turned around to follow Luke . . . and stopped short.

Lila stared at the Imperial Stardestroyer for a long moment.

Then she contacted Luke. "Luke! What the hell is this thing doing here? The ion cannon was supposed to clear the Empire out of the way!"

"I don't know, but whatever you do, don't go anywhere near it!"

"Gee, ya think?" But it was too late. Even as she spoke, her small fighter was pulled into the tractor beam.

Far in space, en route to Dagobah, Luke heard what could very likely be the last transmission from Lila Skywalker: "Shit! Luke . . . tractor beam . . . pulling . . . in . . . dammit . . . help!" After that, there was only static. Then the transmission ended.

Luke immediately sent a message to the _Millennium Falcon_. "Han, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, kid. What's up?"

" . . . We lost Lila."

In the cockpit of the Falcon, Han gave command to Leia. She grabbed the comlink. "Luke? What are you talking about?"

"We lost Lila."

"What do you mean? Is she dead?"

"No, she . . . well, basically . . . Okay, so, there was this Imperial Stardestroyer when there shouldn't have been one, and Lila was caught off guard, and it had a tractor beam, and . . ."

"Oh, no," muttered Leia. "Are you telling me she got captured by the Empire?"

"Pretty much, yeah. My question is, are they going to kill her?"

"Most likely. But if she's a Jedi wouldn't they try to make her go to the Dark side?" asked Leia.

"Yes," said Luke, "but the Emperor doesn't know Lila. She would rather die."

"Which means," interrupted Han, "that she is either dead or she is going to be."

**Cool. Only the fourth chapter, and already we have a plotline. This must be a record for me.**

**Hah! I tricked you all! Actually, not really. Darth Eris was originally Lila's Dark half, but the I thought it would be cool to imagine the expressions on ally our faces as your _jaws hit the floor_!**

**SwimAngel: Thank you.**

**Readers, please! I must ask that if you read the story, **_PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE_** review it! Because I know that some of you have read it but aren't reviewing, as can be shown by looking at my Stats. I know at least two of you have me on your Story Alert list or Favorite Stories list (thank you, btw), but you didn't review!**

**And for that matter, where are all my reviewers for Three Lives Connect? Where are you all? You said you were looking forward to this one!**

**Sorry. I can't help bitching, it's just really on my nerves!**


	5. Dreams and Memories

**Hello, my dear readers. I return after horribly confusing you all in chapter four, and I come back to present you with chapter five. And I would just like to tell you that a good part of this chapter will be in italics.**

**Disclaimer: Hello, would you like to buy a new refrigerator? They are in excellent condition with a warranty of—**

**Me: Hey! Stop sounding like a telemarketer and disclaim the story!**

**Disclaimer: Oh, fine. Emerald Tiara does not own Star Wars.**

**Me: not yet I don't, but just you wait . . . **

_Chapter 5: Dreams and Memories_

Lila was hauled before Darth Vader with a black eye and a bleeding lip. She obviously had not 'come quietly,' as they call it.

"Lila Skywalker," said Vader. Lila felt a jolt of surprise. _How does he know my name?_ "Do you know why you are here?"

"Let's just say for a moment I didn't know," said Lila harshly. "Enlighten me."

"You are here because you know where the Rebels are."

"So do you. You just blasted our base out of existence."

Darth Vader ignored the interruption. "More importantly, you are here because you are a Jedi."

Lila grunted, but said nothing.

"You are also here because I know who you are." He spoke quietly so only she could hear. "You are my daughter, Lila."

Lila looked up. "How do you know that?"

"The Dark Side is powerful, Lila. Join the Dark Side, and together we could rule the galaxy as father and daughter."

Lila narrowed her eyes. "That is the problem with you Sith types! You always try to get a Jedi to join you by offering power! Well did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't WANT power? That there might just be the slightest chance that I don't WANT to rule the galaxy?"

"Do you value your life? Would you rather die that join me?"

"Yes, actually."

He waved a hand. "You will not be so defiant when you see what I have in store for you."

"And that would be . . . ?"

"Have you ever heard of a Force Vortex?"

Lila paled. Obi-Wan had taught her about Force Vortexes. They were specially created to keep Jedi in a trance in which the aforementioned Jedi would be subject to whatever their captor threw at them, including painful memories, nightmares, visions, and physical pain.

"Are you serious?" she whispered.

"Deadly." And then he knocked her out. He turned to Darth Eris. "I want you to watch over her. Alert me when she wakes up."

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

_Lila looked around. Her eyes were open, but there was no light. Nothing was there._

_Out of nowhere a bright blue figure materialized. Watching it warily, Lila saw it take the shape of Obi-Wan._

"_Who, or what, are you, exactly?" she asked._

"_Come on, Lila," said the thing. "I know for a fact I taught you about ghosts."_

"…_Oh. Right."_

"_So, Lila. Care to explain why you let yourself get caught?"_

"_It's not my fault! How was I supposed to know there would be a Stardestroyer there?" Suddenly she panicked. "And now I'm stuck, and I'm probably going to die, or I'm going to be forced to join the Dark Side—" she was hyperventilating now "—and then Yoda will make Luke come kill Darth Vader, and then I'm going to die, because Luke would have to kill me too, because I'm a Sith!!" she screamed._

"_Lila. Calm down. It's going to be all right," said Obi-Wan slowly._

"_How could it possibly be all right?!"_

"_I always knew any child of Anakin would have to be a pessimist," he muttered._

_Lila shuddered, then turned away. "Just leave," she whispered. "Just go away."_

"_Lila—"_

"_LEAVE, DAMMIT!"_

_He left._

Darth Eris stood over the prone figure of Lila Skywalker, in a cell on the Stardestroyer _Devastator_. So alike, yet so different… What would Eris have been if she hadn't been a Sith? Thinking back to those days when she first joined the Sith…

_On Alderaan, a young girl plays on a grassy field with a man and a woman. The girl runs through the grass, following the colorful butterflies that flutter there. Laughing, she glances back at her parents. Wait… "Mommy? Daddy?"_

_A tall, dark stranger appears. _

"_Arenia! Run!" yells her father._

_The stranger has a bar of red light in his hand. Arenia is scared…screaming, she watches as her parents are impaled on the red light, and fall to the earth._

_The world goes dark._

_Arenia wakes up. The dark masked man is standing over her. She remembers him from somewhere…_

"_Where are Mommy and Daddy?" she sobs._

"_They were killed by the Rebellion," says the man in a deep voice. "The Rebel Alliance, traitors to the Empire._

"_The Rebellion?" she whispers. Hatred welled up inside her. "I hate them!"_

"_I will keep you safe," he says._

She had despised the rebel ever since.

_Idiot,_ said a voice in her brain.

"What is that? Who's there?"

_Me, dumbo. I sent out a Force-SOS and I picked up your flashback._ Eris looked at the girl. She was smiling grimly in her sleep.

"So why am I an idiot?"

_Because, idiot, the Rebels didn't kill mommy and daddy dearest. Put the pieces together: tall dark man who breaths funny, uses red bar of light to kill people. Sound familiar?_

"You think I don't know this? I know perfectly well who killed my parents!"

_So why do you still serve him?_

"He would kill me if I left," Eris whispered.

**So, the girls get some bonding time. How sweet. And do I smell a hint of mutiny?**

**Finally, my readers return! I missed you!**

**Anon: Thank you oh so much.**

**Cowgirl4Christ: The secret is in the Author Alert list.**

**SwimAngel: Don't worry, I'm fine now.**

**jedimasterobi-wankenobi: Thank you, thank you.**


	6. Awakening

**Disclaimer: if I owned this, Luke wouldn't have gone pacifist in ROTJ.**

_Chapter 6: Awakening_

_Lila was losing it. She could tell: No longer could she fight the dreams and visions that came her way. For two days she had struggled against the combined powers of Eris and Vader, but now it was either join or die._

_The images came more quickly now. Flashes of nightmares, visions of what would happen to the rebellion if she didn't join the Dark Side. Lila was filled with an overwhelming depression. What was the point of it all? It wasn't like they wouldn't die anyway. The alliance would fall, Leia, Luke and Han would die, and so would Lila—_

Her eyes snapped open. "What the…"

Darth Vader stood over her. "Are you ready to join me yet?"

Lila spit on his mask.

He made an exasperated noise. "Your loss," shrugged Eris. She raised her hands and shot blue lightning at Lila. The almost-Jedi fell back against the wall.

And she was back in nightmare land.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

Lando Calrissian led Chewbacca, Han and Leia down a hallway in Cloud City on Bespin. "There's always been danger looming like a shadow over everything we've built here. But things have developed that will ensure security. I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever."

They entered a dining room. Leia gasped. There was Darth Vader. Han pulled out his blaster, but Vader pulled it towards him with the Force.

About two hours later they found themselves in a large cell. Leia was shaking.

"What's wrong?" asked Han. Even the rugged smuggler could see there was more than fear to Leia's antics.

"Darth Vader…he…" she swallowed. "He was carrying Lila's lightsaber!" She blinked back tears. "I don't know why…but he must've had a reason…for having it…"

"He wanted to show that she wasn't a threat," Han whispered. "But Vader is no fool…he considers everyone a threat unless—"

"Unless they're dead," finished Leia softly. "So that means…" she didn't finish her statement. Everybody knew what it meant.

They sat in silence.

Chewbacca growled. They heard footsteps outside the door; someone was coming.

_Dimly outside her torment Lila could feel herself being picked up and carried somewhere. She didn't know where—hell, she didn't even know where she was—nor did she care. She was probably being brought to be killed._

_She didn't care. She could barely fight back the madness. Death would be welcome. But before she died she would still suffer, it seemed: the nightmares did not stop._

_Flashes of the past showed in her mind._

_Tusken Raiders, killing a village as she and Obi-Wan appeared to save them, but they were too late—_

_Jabba the Hutt, screaming in pain as her lightsaber sliced through his tail, Boba Fett firing at her as she desperately tried to escape—_

_Obi-Wan being cut down by Vader—_

_Rebel pilots dying in masses as TIE fighters shot them with their superior lasers—_

_Running into a wampa on the ice planet of Hoth, almost having her head ripped off—_

_Finding Luke almost frozen to death—_

_The fight was almost finished. Lila could not battle it for very much longer, this she knew._

Leia, Han and Chewie tensed as the door opened. Two stormtroopers dumped a body in the cell and left without a word or a glance at the three inside.

"What was that about?" asked Han quizzically. Leia was already up and walked cautiously towards the person. With a cry, she jumped back.

"What's wrong?" Han and Chewie looked at each other and ran to help. They soon saw what was wrong.

"Oh, my god…"

Lila Skywalker lay in front of them. Leia was crying; Han was staring at her. "Is she…alive?"

Leia merely sobbed harder. This, she knew, was the ultimate torture: Lila was dead, but she was here in front of them. Vader obviously was making an illusion to confuse them.

"So…what do we do?"

Chewie growled something.

Han glared at him. "Well of course she's dead, but what do we do with this?" The three of them congregated in a corner on the far end of the room. Leia kept glancing over at 'Lila' until she shrieked.

_She knew she was lying on a floor of some kind; she didn't really know or care why. But the end was coming, beyond all doubt. She never expected THAT kind of ending…_

Han and Chewie stared. Lila's eyes were open.

"What the hell…"

"Huh?" Lila blinked several times. "Where am I?"

"You're dead," accused Han.

She punched him. Then the breath was slammed out of her lungs as Leia hugged her. "What the hell…._LeiaIcan'tbreathe!"_

Leia said nothing, just sobbed into her side. "Okay…why am I slowly being suffocated?"

"We thought you were dead…" Leia looked tearfully at Lila.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I'm sorry but you can't get rid of me that easily."

"So, you're not dead? Are you sure?" Han looked at Lila warily. "Are you something Vader conjured up to confuse us?"

Lila punched him again. "Don't talk to me about him, because when I get my hands on him…" she made several violent gestures.

"Yep, it's her," groaned Han from the floor.

Lila was confused again. "So where are we, and why are we there?"

"Don't you know?"

"No…I just spent two days in limbo; of course I don't."

"Limbo?"

"Don't ask," growled Lila. "Because you really don't want to know."

**Huh…a sudden surge of reviews, and then what happens? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.**

**Jedimasterobi-wankenobi: poor Obi-wan? Poor OBI-WAN? **

**Well, that's all I have to say for now, except that Luke just might get a heart attack when he hears about Lila being alive, I haven't decided yet.**

**Keep 'em coming! **


	7. Lila Alive

**Okay, I realize that the Luke/Vader dialogue may not be correct, but while I was writing this I didn't have any internet access so I couldn't get the script online like I usually do.**

**Disclaimer: JEEZ! Look, I have a longstanding grudge against Lucas. Why the hell would I want his creation?**

_Chapter 7: Lila Alive_

"What's going on?" Han asked Lando.

"You're being put into carbon freeze," muttered Lando.

"And me?" asked Lila.

"You too, Vader's handing you over to Jabba."

Leia gasped. Lila rolled her eyes. "Oh, as if," she spat.

"Actually," commented Lando, "you're right. You're actually staying here with Leia and Chewbacca. I was kidding."

"You think this is something to joke about??" seethed Lila. "Shut up before I cut you in half!"

"With what?" asked Han, annoyed.

"Oh yeah…remind me to get that thing back," hissed Lila as she stared at the lightsaber next to Vader's."

Across the room Lila faintly heard Boba Fett saying something. "What if he dies? He's worth a lot to me."

Vader replied, "The Empire will compensate you. Put him in!" he ordered.

Chewbacca attacked the nearest stormtroopers. Threepio put up his arms in an unnecessary and useless attempt to protect himself from a nonexistent threat.

"Chewie!" yelled Han. "Chewie, this won't help. Stop."

"Yeah, if it does anything it'll only make everyone else more pissed, and who knows, they might decide to put me in there too, and then I would never get to see the expression on Luke's face when he finds out I'm not dead," called Lila.

Leia slapped her. "How can you be so callous at a time like this?"

Lila blinked. "What, you expect me to break down in tears? That won't help, either."

"You have no heart! Why are you like that?" cried Leia.

"Because crying over Han won't get me anywhere, and it's not like he's gonna die or anything! Besides," she whispered, "I still have to work out a way to escape, which I can't do if I'm distracted by this!"

"How do you know he's not going to die?" challenged Leia angrily.

Lila groaned in a very frustrated way. "Never mind. Look, all I know is that I need to escape, or else one of you is going to tell Luke I'm alive, and _I really want to do it!_ Also, if I find Luke, I find Vader, and I want my lightsaber. So just shut up and let me work."

"You're hopeless," sighed Leia. Lila flashed a grin.

And within seconds, she was so caught up in trying to find a weak spot in the stormtroopers that she barely noticed Han being sent to his doom, maybe.

Leia watched as strange explosions occurred, and tried to cry into Lila's shoulder. She would have, except Lila wasn't there.

"Bitch," she muttered. "But you're fast."

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

Lila wished she had her lightsaber, or at least a blaster, as she dashed through the halls. Luke had just landed—she knew that much. What she didn't know was why he was here.

"I should have known. Of course you would show up and maybe die. Of course."

And before she knew it, she was lost. "Crap. Now what?" Retracing her steps, she went through the hallways until she heard the distant sounds of shouting and shooting. Stopping as a stray shot hit the wall near her head, she heard Leia shouting something.

"Luke! No! It's a trap!"

But of course Luke didn't listen and go back to his ship. No, he kept going.

Lila saw Luke disappear around the corner. Making sure not to be heard, she followed and ended up back where she started—in the carbon-freeze chamber.

Luke was wary. Lila silently praised him. He wasn't taking any chances. Of course, coming here was in itself a huge gamble. Typical Luke.

Enter Darth Vader. Sporting Lila's lightsaber. Which Luke immediately noticed.

Lila missed anything the two might have said—it was harder than it seemed to be in the same room as a Jedi and a sith and not be discovered. She skirted the fight, keeping to the edges of the room.

And so the fight progressed. Lila sighed. This was taking too long. As Luke and Vader moved to a room overlooking a vacuum chamber, Lila decided the time for secrecy was up.

"Join the dark side, Skywalker," Vader said.

"Why would I join you?" gasped a rapidly tiring Luke. "You killed Lila!"

"No," said Lila, stepping out. "He didn't."

Luke gaped. He opened and closed his mouth very quickly several times. "What—I—you—" he stuttered. "You're dead!"

"Sadly, you're mistaken," she snapped. "What, do you want me to be dead?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Good then." Lila reached out with the Force and called her lightsaber to her. The silver blade appeared out of the hilt with a hum. She swung it a few times, and then rotated her head on her neck. "Let's do this!"

Luke was still trying to deal with the fact that Lila was alive when the glass shattered, exposing the vacuum. Luke backed off onto a platform that extended into the void. Lila brought her lightsaber up to block Vader's, and followed Luke.

"But what _happened_?" asked Luke, as they jointly tried to defend themselves. "Why arent you dead?"

"For the last time, Luke." grunted Lila as Darth Vader parried her lightsaber, "I'm alive, and that is that. I'm not going to say anything else."

Vader pushed her aside. Lila rolled off and grabbed the edge. Hoisting herself up, she stood up as Vader turned to Luke. He raised his red lightsaber.

Luke's hand, along with his lightsaber, fell over the edge.

With a cry of pain, Luke scooted back along the walkway and gripped a pole so he wouldn't fall. Lila gasped.

"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father, did he?" asked Vader.

Lila knew what was coming. "Shit," she whispered.

"He told me enough," snarled Luke. "He told me you betrayed and murdered my father!"

_No, no, NO!_ screamed Lila silently. He was going to tell Luke, he was going to tell Luke!!

She was right.

"No, Luke. I am your father."

And as Luke's scream rang in her ears, Lila let the tears fall.

**Okay, so maybe you were expecting something else, maybe not, but this is what o wrote, and this is what you have to deal with. Lila's only crying because she knows Luke can't handle it, and because she still hadn't accepted it herself, either.**

**Cowgirl4Christ: I think he's a bit preoccupied to have a panic attack.**

**Swpaintergal: no, I could never forget. **

**Jedimasterobi-wankenobi: poor Lila, now its poor Luke, and soon its going to be poor everyone. Babbling's fine with me.**

**So, let's estimate one or two more chapters in here, and then…fin! But for now, happy reviewing!**


	8. Fear and Anger

**Wassup, bitches? I actually had this chapter planned out a couple of different ways, but that's just life.**

**EVIL LATIN TEACHER IS RETIRING!!!! O hallelujah, break out the champagne! Unfortunately I won't be able to see him go, since I wouldn't have had him next year anyway. My school doesn't seem to be able to hold a Latin teacher for more than two years. We had one in fifth grade, another one in sixth and seventh, and now the eighth grade one is going.**

**Disclaimer: no shit.**

_Chapter 8: Fear and Anger_

"_No, Luke. I am your father."_

_And as Luke's scream rang in her ears, Lila let the tears fall._

----------------------------------------------

Lila stood silently as Luke stared at Vader in horror. She couldn't look at him.

"No, that's not true!" shouted Luke. "It's impossible!"

"No," said Lila quietly. "He's telling the truth." Luke stared at her. She couldn't meet his eyes.

"How do you know that? You're lying…"

"I've known for five years," she whispered. "Ever since Obi-Wan told me."

"He told you? But why didn't you tell me?"

"What did you expect?" she snapped. "I was going to walk up and just casually say 'hey, your dad's the one who fucked up the galaxy?'"

"You're still not telling me the whole story," Luke accused. "I can tell."

"Yes, why don't you tell him?" asked Darth Vader. "Tell him the other half. Tell him just what you are."

Lila closed her eyes in a failed attempt to stop the tears that flooded her vision. She opened them again, looked down, and dove off the walkway into the vacuum below.

The wind roared in Lila's ears as she fell, rushing downwards, until something pulled her off into an exhaust pipe. She tumbled around for a bit, finally coming to rest in a silver tube. Lila was about to start catching her breath when the floor dropped out form under them, launching her into the empty space below Cloud City.

She grabbed a weather vane and held on for dear life. Seconds later Luke came hurtling down.

Luke managed to grab onto the vane. "One-handed…not bad!" he panted.

"Yeah, and since when did you grow a sense of humor?" Lila pulled herself up until she was sitting on it and raised her eyebrows.

But Luke's fleeting moment of sarcasm had flown; it was back to seriousness. "It is really…true?"

"Unfortunately," Lila said. "The Emperor told him that only the dark side could save your mother from dying, so he turned, and then your mother ended up dying of a broken heart."

"When did Ben tell you?"

"About an hour before I met you." They sat in silence for a while.

"What did Vader mean, about you not being who you say you are?" asked Luke.

"Well, I might tell you later."

"But you probably won't."

"Damn straight."

Lila decided she didn't like clouds. Sure they were pretty, but she was freezing. Tatooine had given her a misconception of heat. This was Lila: _If we're up way in the sky, doesn't that make us closer to the sun? So, by default, shouldn't we be warm?_

_Nope, guess not._

"So…what do we do now?" asked Luke finally.

"Well…let's see, how much did Yoda teach you?"

Luke reacted with visible shock. "How did you know I went to see Yoda?"

"Never mind, how much did he teach you about the Force?" snapped Lila. "Actually, never mind that, try to find Leia."

Lila would have tried it herself, but…well; she was scared to admit it to herself, but she was afraid to use the Force right now. Sitting among the clouds was mind-clearing; she now remembered what she'd done to Obi-Wan.

Put simply, Lila Skywalker was afraid that if she used the Force, she would be confronted by Obi-Wan and forced to apologize. Stubborn people don't like apologizing. Lila Skywalker was a very stubborn person.

She never thought it would come to this. Lila was afraid to use the Force? It was almost laughable.

_Use the Dark Side, and you won't have to apologize._ Darth Vader's voice rang out in her head.

"Shut up," she whispered, "just shut up." Lila realized she was still crying and angrily wiped her eyes, but that didn't help. Anyway, there was no time to worry about herself, Luke needed medical treatment now.

"Look," gasped Luke. And Lila looked.

There, speeding through the blood-red clouds, was the _Millennium Falcon_. Saved.

**Whoo boy that was a sappy chapter…I'm not used to writing sappy, how'd it turn out? HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY SILVER BLADE TRILOGY!! One year ago Lila showed up in my head and I posted the first chapter of Three Lives Connect. Yay! A whole year!**

**So, I estimate about one more chapter in this baby, then she's done and we can finally move on to ROTJ.**

**Cowgirl4Christ: Ah, the hidden soft side…well, we all knew Lila had it in her somewhere.**

**Draye: Since when the hell do you read Star Wars stories? **


	9. What is this Feeling?

**Last chapter, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars and do not hope to make any profit from this story. All Star Wars plotlines and characters belong to George Lucas at Lucasfilm Ltd. (I Wikipedia-ed fanfiction and it turns out that's actually what you're supposed to say in a disclaimer!) **

_Chapter 9: What is this Feeling?_

"What the…what the hell happened?" exclaimed Leia at the sight of a bloodied Luke and Lila limping from where her foot had hit the wall of the tunnel-thing.

"Long story," Lila gasped. "In short, Luke is now missing a hand."

"What?" gaped Lando. "His _hand?_"

"Yes, his hand," snapped Lila. "Are you deaf or something? I am in such a bad mood right now that I—you know what, just don't even talk to me." She stalked off down a hallway and out of sight.

"I'll follow her, you take Luke." Leia hurried after Lila.

She found her sitting against a wall sobbing into her hands. "I told him to shut up," she choked. "I told him to shut up and leave me alone."

"Who?" probed Leia.

"Master Obi-Wan!" Lila wailed. "And then I had to watch horrible memories and scenes from what could happen in the future and it was terrible, and now I just can't take it anymore! Everyone expects Jedi to be these superhuman warriors, but I'm not!"

Leia didn't know what to say. She'd never seen Lila act like this, never seen any indication of evidence that Lila could act like this—but maybe that was what Lila was trying to say, that she couldn't take the pressure to be strong anymore.

That, coupled with the fact that she had no idea what Lila was talking about, made for a very confused Leia.

"Lila. Calm down, deep breaths. Talk to me slowly."

Lila gasped out a few garbled sentences so fast that all Leia caught was "Luke… you… Han… dead…everyone… I killed people…we can't win this…oh it's just too horrible why am I expecting you to understand?"

Before Leia could respond a breathless Lando stuck his head around the corner. "Imperials," he said.

Lila and Leia rushed to the cockpit. "Stardestroyer," murmured Leia.

"Chewie, prepare for lightspeed," said Lando, throwing himself into the pilot's chair.

"Is it going to work this time?" asked Lila mildly.

"It better. They told me they fixed it."

Leia looked at the dashboard as a green light winked. "The coordinates are set."

Lando hit the lightspeed button.

The ship shuddered as absolutely nothing happened, with the Empire still firing at them. Lila smiled to herself smugly. _Now Han owes me my 5 credits back._

"They told me they fixed it…" Lando was slightly taken aback. "It's not my fault. It's not my fault!!" He raced after Chewie to try and fix the hyperdrive.

"Hah. I was right." Lila smirked and sauntered after Lando.

Leia rolled her eyes in amazement of Lila's mood swings and sat down at the controls. Lando came in, followed by Lila.

"We're still being followed, you know," she said in a slightly pissed-off tone. She glanced at the large Stardestroyer coming up.

"Its Vader," muttered Luke from the doorway.

Darth Vader's voice sounded in Luke and Lila's heads. _It is your destiny._

_Shut up already,_ Lila retorted wearily.

"Why didn't he tell me?" Luke asked himself.

Lila sighed, grabbed Luke's wrist (the one with the hand still attached) and dragged him out of the cockpit.

"You listen to me, and you listen good," she hissed. "Master Obi-Wan had very good reasons for not telling you and you sure as hell better not tell anyone else."

"Why did he tell you then?" Luke sighed mournfully. "Why did you have to know? It didn't have anything to do with you!"

"It has more to do with me than you think." And with that cryptic comment she went back into the cockpit.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

"Yo, Lando!" called Lila. "Good luck." Lando was about to leave for Tatooine to try and find Han.

Lando blinked. Lila never wished anyone good luck on anything. "Uh, thanks."

Lila looked at the ground for a moment, then quickly kissed his cheek and ran away. From the shadows, Leia smiled.

Luke flexed his new hand experimentally.

"Dammit, does this mean you'll hit me back if I punch you now?" asked Lila glumly. Luke rolled his eyes but smiled as he did so.

Leia stared out the window. "He'll be fine," Lila said.

"Han or Lando?" replied Leia.

"Both of them," answered Lila, but she blushed as she spoke.

The three of them stood at the window together, the siblings lined up, watching the _Millennium Falcon_ disappear into space. Each had their worries, each had their own thoughts.

Leia was worried for Lando and Han, but mostly Han. She wondered if the man she loved was still alive.

Luke was worried for his best friend. Would Han be okay? Would Lando be okay? What about Vader? And Yoda? He had to go back to Dagobah soon.

Lila was anxious about Han, yes, but not only Han. When she spoke to Lando she felt something she'd never felt before. She wasn't sure what it was—maybe it was love. She smiled wryly. Tough Lila had never thought about love much; maybe she could loosen up a little. Was it love? Lila didn't know, but she wouldn't rule it out as an option.

The three stood next to each other watching the galaxy go on beyond them, knowing that out there lived people completely unaware of the fight between the Rebels and the Empire. These were people without worries, creatures who could go to bed and wake up the next morning without a care.

These people were not them. They had troubles, concerns, worries, problems that couldn't be solved. The fight would continue for a long time yet, but for now maybe they could sit down and rest a bit.

**Uh, yay? Should I be happy? For some reason I don't feel as good about this one—oh hell, whatever. I am happy. Finishing this gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Anyway, we should all be happy! Lila has a love interest! I don't know, they just seemed like a good couple.**

**Now I know I posted this one about a day after the first one, but this time I can't do that because I'm going to camp. Oh god, last time I said that was at the end of chapter 5 of **_**Three Lives Connect.**_** Anyway, sometime in late August, keep an eye open for **_**Silver Blade III: The End of an Era!**_

**jedimasterobi-wankenobi: nope, he doesn't find out until the same time he finds out Leia is his sister.**

**swpaintergal: he will, eventually. Thanks.**

**Right, so, that's the end of the Silver Blade Trilogy, phase 2. Phase 3 should show up at the end of August/ beginning of September. Hey, it might actually be sooner—you never know! Actually it'll be a lot sooner, maybe the third week of August, depending on my free time.**


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